BMC postpones reopening of primary schools to Dec 15

BMC’s education department on Tuesday said that even though offline classes will resume in the next two weeks, parents can opt for online ones for primary school students

Mumbai In the wake of the new Covid-19 variant Omicron, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has postponed the reopening of schools in the city to December 15.

Primary schools were slated to open on December 1, but BMC postponed it. (Hindustan Times)

Schools were slated to open on December 1. The BMC’s education department on Tuesday said that even though offline classes will resume in the next two weeks, parents can opt for online ones.

Data showed that 10 lakh students study in classes 1 to 7 in 3,420 primary schools in the city. However, though the date of reopening has been postponed, the standard operating procedure will remain the same. “The guidelines mandate one student per bench and the maximum operation of the school for two to three hours daily,” said education officer Raju Tadvi of the BMC.

Tadvi said, “It is a fact that in more than 12 countries of the world, the Omicron variant is infecting people. As a result of this, we need to take preventive measures considering the population of the city. The Omicron variant is being studied and there is no sufficient data on the same, and hence it will take a few days to gauge the situation.”

He added that reopening schools would mean disinfecting them, cleaning them and making all logistical arrangements. “We will also have to get parents to submit consent letters without which we cannot expect students to come to school. Hence, to be fully prepared and avoid any untoward incident, we have decided to reopen primary schools from December 15 instead of December 1.”

The SOP details guidelines across nine parameters, including attendance, safety and Covid-19 hygiene, teaching, seating arrangements in classrooms, for school managements, teachers, students, and parents. The BMC has mandated that school managements should link their schools with the nearest primary health centres before restarting classes, to better deal with health emergencies among students and staff. Meanwhile, two months after the reopening of the schools there is no spike reported in the number of cases in children or teenagers.